The Blessing of Discomfort

Friday, April 3, 2026 - Good Friday

The Rev. Brian Steele

Allied Person of Faith

LOVEboldly Board Member

Quote

“God loves you and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The Rev. Brian Steele

Devotion

About 13 years ago I was sitting in a room with LOVEboldly folks, and it hit me: I am the only straight white male in this room. “Well,” I thought, “this is weird.” Truthfully, as I sat there, I realized what I was experiencing was actually discomfort. For the first time in my existence, my identity was the numerical minority in a space. Then the Holy gave me an even greater gift and I came to this revelation: “So, this is what it feels like.”

Truthfully, I still don’t know what it feels like to be a sexual, racial, or gender minority in any space. But that moment with our organization gave me a glimpse, and it was a gift. For anybody seeking to be an ally of a marginalized or oppressed group, if we never experience discomfort in our work, then we are not leaning into the work as much as we should.

Discomfort for privileged folk is a gift from the Holy. When we embrace that discomfort, we are growing in our capacity to know what it means to follow the living Christ. It expands our empathy and love of neighbor. I understand that I will never fully understand. I am a straight, white, cis-gender male. I’m never going to fully get what it means to be anything other than that. But embracing experiences that give us even the slightest glimpse of what it is like to be a minority is how we grow. Personally, experiences like these that have led me to Queer, Black, Feminist, and other theologies and has made me an even more passionate follower of Christ. They have made me want to take my faith out into the world even more. They have made me love Jesus even more.

Not any one sect of Christianity gets it fully “right” (whatever that means), but by embracing other understandings, we can at the very least get closer together. And that makes Jesus more beautiful in my view.

Allies, let’s get uncomfortable, and let’s embrace it as a gift. Amen.

Reflection

1.    When have you been blessed by an uncomfortable situation?

2.    How has discomfort caused you to grow in your faith?

Action

If you are a person of any privilege, go into a space where you are the minority and just sit and listen.